Feature Channels: Neuro

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Protein tracer shows distinctive pattern of brain protein deposition specific to this disease and typically confirmed after death

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A baby’s skull is made of several plates of bone that fuse together over time to form a single structure. Previous research has shown that approximately one in 2,000 babies have plates that fuse too early — a condition called craniosynostosis — causing cranial deformities that can lead to learning impairments and other neurodevelopmental problems. Craniofacial surgeons across the country differ on when surgical intervention is needed for some abnormalities. Now, researchers at the University of Missouri School of Medicine are recommending a new method to help determine when surgery is needed.

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Patients with cervical and endometrial cancer have fewer gastrointestinal and genitourinary side effects and experience better quality of life when treated with intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) than with conventional radiation therapy (RT), according to research presented today at the 58th Annual Meeting of the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO).

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The gut may play a key role in preventing the onset of Parkinson's disease. UI biologists found that in roundworms, an immune response from intestinal cells sparks a series of chemical signals that ultimately preserves neurons whose death is associated with Parkinson's. The results appear in the journal Cell Reports.

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Current methods to control epilepsy are not only inefficient but haven’t improved in more than 150 years when the first anticonvulsant drug was developed. Researchers have opened up the possibilities for rapid drug screens to treat seizures in the near future by developing the smallest whole-animal electroconvulsive seizure model using a microscopic nematode worm.

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The Congress of Neurological Surgeons (CNS), the global leader in neurosurgical education, announced the 2016-17 CNS Innovation Fellowship recipients during the opening General Scientific Session at the 2016 CNS Annual Meeting in San Diego

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Nonfunctioning pituitary adenomas (NFPAs) are common benign tumors that may be present for years before causing any symptoms. A new set of research-based guidelines for evaluation and treatment of NFPAs appears in the October issue of Neurosurgery, official journal of the Congress of Neurological Surgeons. The journal is published by Wolters Kluwer.

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Naomi was diagnosed at age 2 with Rett syndrome, a rare, debilitating disease in which patients progressively lose brain function and the ability to walk. While she laughs, smiles and toddles around like most 3-year-olds, Naomi’s repetitive hand behaviors offer clues to her condition.

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In a recent study, a Yale Cancer Center team revealed that the addition of chemotherapy to postoperative treatment for adults with medulloblastoma improves survival.

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A naturally occurring enzyme called hyaluronidase may be an effective alternative treatment for spasticity, or muscle stiffness, a disabling condition in people who have had a stroke or other brain injury. That is the finding of a study from NYU Langone Medical Center published in the July print issue of EBioMedicine.

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EL PASO, Texas - Certain symptoms associated with the development of Alzheimer’s disease, including agitation and depression, affect Hispanics more frequently and severely than other ethnicities. The findings, published in the Journal of Neuropsychiatry and Clinical Neuroscience (JNCN), suggest that Alzheimer’s disease manifests itself differently in Hispanic populations.

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For patients who have cancer that has metastasized to the brain, stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) results in statistically comparable survival rates, reduced cognitive decline and better quality of life (QOL), compared to whole brain radiotherapy (WBRT), according to research presented today at the 58th Annual Meeting of the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO).

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Stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) for cancer patients who receive the treatment for brain metastases decreases the likelihood of local recurrence but shows no positive difference in terms of overall survival (OS) or distant brain metastases (DBMs) rates, when compared to observation alone following surgical resection of brain metastases, according to research presented today at the 58th Annual Meeting of the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO).

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Heavy drinking can lead to neurophysiological and cognitive changes ranging from disrupted sleep to more serious neurotoxic effects. Aging can also contribute to cognitive decline. Several studies on the interaction of current heavy drinking and aging have had varied results. This study sought to elucidate the relations among age, heavy drinking, and neurocognitive function.

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Drs. Evans and Rosen perform an endoscopic endonasal resection of nonsecretory pituitary macroenoma surgery on Tuesday, September 27, 2:15–3:15 pm. The surgery is video-streamed live from Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia to the San Diego Convention Center, where it will be seen by thousands of meeting attendees.

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An exciting line-up of guest speakers will address thousands of leading neurosurgeons from across the globe at the Congress of Neurological Surgeons Annual Meeting in San Diego, September 24-28, 2016

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The CNS holds its 2016 Annual Meeting in San Diego. The meeting theme Advance, Adapt, Achieve affirms neurosurgery’s ability to succeed by advancing innovative ideas through research, adapting treatments through knowledge, and ultimately, achieving breakthrough in patient care.

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Researchers at the UNC School of Medicine announced the first evidence that stabilizing a protein called SOD1 can help reverse protein clumping in the types of neurons affected by the fatal neurodegenerative condition Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease.

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Researchers have recently shown that magnetic bacteria are a promising vehicle for more efficiently delivering tumor-fighting drugs.

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*Researchers from the Max Planck Institute in Germany and the University of Haifa used emotionally confusing video clips and revealed different neutral networks that operate when we perceive a situation as positive or negative*

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MINNEAPOLIS – The experimental drug laquinimod may prevent the development or reduce the progression of multiple sclerosis (MS) in mice, according to research published in the September 21, 2016, online issue of Neurology® Neuroimmunology & Neuroinflammation, a medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

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Supported by a National Institutes of Health (NIH) grant worth a projected $3.3 million over five years, Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center investigators have expanded their research into the cumulative effects of head impacts in young football players to the high school level.

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In their most recent Annals of Oncology publication, Moffitt researchers sought to determine if patients with melanoma brain metastases treated with immune and targeted therapies had improved outcomes over patients treated with conventional chemotherapy. They retrospectively analyzed data from 96 patients with melanoma brain metastases who were treated with stereotactic radiation therapy within 3 months of different targeted therapies (anti–PD-1 therapy, anti–CTLA-4 therapy, BRAF inhibitor plus a MEK inhibitor, or a BRAF inhibitor alone) or conventional chemotherapy.

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New research from the Center for BrainHealth at The University of Texas at Dallas shows that children with autism spectrum disorder, who participated in a virtual reality training program, improved social cognition skills and reported better real-world relationships. Neurocognitive testing showed significant gains in emotional recognition, understanding the perspective of others and the ability to problem solve.

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Inherited methylation—a form of epigenetic regulation passed down from parents to offspring—is far more dynamic than previously thought and may contribute to changes in the brain and other tissues over time. This finding by Whitehead Institute scientists challenges current understandings of gene regulation via methylation, from development through adulthood.

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A team at the MRC Clinical Sciences Centre (CSC), based at Imperial College London, has found an important part of the machinery that switches on a gene known to protect against Alzheimer’s Disease.

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Loneliness is linked to poor physical and mental health, and is an even more accurate predictor of early death than obesity. To better understand who is at risk, researchers at University of California San Diego School of Medicine conducted the first genome-wide association study for loneliness — as a life-long trait, not a temporary state. They discovered that risk for feeling lonely is partially due to genetics, but environment plays a bigger role.

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New York University researchers offer a new theory, based on a computational model, on how the brain separates relevant from irrelevant information in these and other circumstances.

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New research from Washington University in St. Louis shows that the protein behind Alzheimer’s disease shape-shifts, changing its internal structure in order to infiltrate brain cells and become toxic.

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An international team of researchers who discovered a new gene disorder that causes severe childhood epilepsy leveraged that finding to reduce seizures in two children. The collaborators’ case report reflects the potential of precision medicine--applying basic science knowledge to individualize treatment to a patient’s unique genetic profile

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Researchers at Seattle Children’s Research Institute published a study in the journal Pediatrics showing a new intervention for adolescents with persistent post-concussive symptoms that improved health and wellness outcomes significantly. The approach combines cognitive behavioral therapy and coordinated care among providers, schools, patients and families.

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Depression can create a huge cost burden on patients and institutions, and for teenagers that includes issues like missed school and the costs of healthcare for families. A new study in JAMA Pediatrics, led by Seattle Children’s Research Institute and Group Health Cooperative, identifies a cost-effective treatment that yields promising results for depressed teens. “We used a collaborative care approach to treat teen depression, which included having a depression care manager who worked with the patient, family and doctors to develop a plan and support the teen in implementing that plan,” said Dr. Laura Richardson, an adolescent medicine physician and researcher at Seattle Children’s.

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ROCHESTER, Minn. — When surgery and medication don’t help people with epilepsy, electrical stimulation of the brain has been a treatment of last resort. Unfortunately, typical approaches, such as vagal nerve stimulation or responsive nerve stimulation, rarely stop seizures altogether. But a new Mayo Clinic study in JAMA Neurology shows that seizures were suppressed in patients treated with continuous electrical stimulation.

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The Center for Behavioral Neuroscience (CBN) at Georgia State University has received a two-year, exploratory grant from the National Institute of Mental Health to develop transformative genome engineering research tools.

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Free Physical Therapy Program at Rutgers Helps Patients Regain Mobility

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Using a clot-busting medication to treat people who wake up with symptoms of stroke was safe and should be studied further to see how effective it might be for a population that otherwise has few treatment options, according to researchers at McGovern Medical School at UTHealth.

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In the past three years, many nations around the world have developed large-scale research projects focused on understanding the brain. Today, the leaders of those projects are meeting in New York City to coordinate efforts to advance fundamental brain research and address the growing burden of brain disorders. Coordinating Global Brain Projects, a meeting at The Rockefeller University, will be followed by a side event at the 71st Session of the United Nations General Assembly.

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In a new finding, UB researchers have shown in mice that glutamate plays a vital role in controlling how muscles and nerves are wired together during development.

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Researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison have found a switch that redirects helper cells in the peripheral nervous system into "repair" mode, a form that restores damaged axons.

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Cognitive function improves with aerobic exercise, but not for people exposed to high levels of mercury before birth, according to research funded by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), part of the National Institutes of Health. Adults with high prenatal exposure to methylmercury, which mainly comes from maternal consumption of fish with high mercury levels, did not experience the faster cognitive processing and better short term memory benefits of exercise that were seen in those with low prenatal methylmercury exposures.

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Neuroscientists at University of California, Irvine have discovered a molecular signaling mechanism that translates visual impairments into functional changes in brain circuit connections. The discovery may help to develop novel therapeutic drugs to treat the childhood visual disorder amblyopia and other neurodevelopment disorders

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Loyola Medicine has launched a multidisciplinary Concussion Program to diagnose and treat concussions in athletes and other patients.

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Intensive treatment to lower systolic (top number) blood pressure to below 120 would save more than 100,000 lives per year in the United States. Two thirds of the lives saved would be men and two thirds would be aged 75 or older.

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What’s the difference between an MRI and a CT scan? An X-ray and an ultrasound? Will it involve radiation that could harm the child in the long term? Penn State Health follows the principles set forth by the Image Gently Alliance, which works to improve safe and effective imaging of children worldwide.

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Children differ substantially in their mathematical abilities. In fact, some children cannot routinely add or subtract, even after extensive schooling. This new paper proposes that math disability arises from abnormalities in brain areas supporting procedural memory. Procedural memory is a learning and memory system that is crucial for the automatization of non-conscious skills, such as driving or grammar.

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Wayne State University has received a $3.6 million grant from the National Institute on Aging of the National Institutes of Health for a project that will advance knowledge of brain aging, its relation to cognitive performance and the role of common vascular and metabolic risk factors in shaping the trajectories of aging. The funded project extends the longitudinal study of healthy volunteers from the metro Detroit area.

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MINNEAPOLIS – Women and minorities may be less likely to receive treatment for stroke, according to a study published in the September 14, 2016, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

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Our brain pays more attention to food when we are hungry than when we are sated. Now a team of scientists at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) has shed light on how the needs of the body affect the way the brain processes visual food cues. In two newly-published studies, the researchers examined – with unprecedented resolution – the brain circuits responsible for the differences in the way the brain responds to visual food cues during hunger versus satiety.

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A consortium of institutions led by TRIUMF, Canada’s national laboratory for particle and nuclear physics and accelerator-based science, is granting sole rights for its proprietary technetium-99m (Tc-99m) production technology to ARTMS™ Products, Inc (ARTMS). Technetium-99m is used in over 80% of all nuclear medicine imaging procedures and is vital to patient care in areas such as cardiology, oncology, and neurology.

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Working with animals, a team of scientists reports it has delivered stem cells to the brain with unprecedented precision by threading a catheter through an artery and infusing the cells under real-time MRI guidance.